Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330665217759411/episodes/16817330666336902591
“……, um, was it the countdown department ……?”
“No sensei, it’s the Counseling Club.”
I went to the staff office to apply for the official establishment of the club. Once a club has three or more members, it is recognized as an official club activity.
This time, thanks to three new members, Higashino Madoka san, Kitagawa Mari san, and Nishida Chihiro san, we now had four members, and we could apply for the club.
I went to the staff room with the application form with everyone’s name on it and delivered it to the elderly grandmother, Komoto-sensei, who was in charge of receiving the applications.
“Counseling Department, I can’t help it, I’m too old to listen at all. I’ll be dead next year!”
As I said that, Komoto-sensei burst out laughing. I had no choice but to respond with a wry smile at the black joke that older people often make ‘One day I’ll die.’
“Yes, yes, now that you are an official club, from this month onward, you will have club funds”
“Club fund?”
“Well, you know, you need club funds for club activities, don’t you?”
“How much is it?”
“Well, you don’t have many members yet, so it would be about 700 yen a month.”
“I see, but thank you.”
I see, if we become an official club member, we will receive club funds. I had paid for all the sweets that had been prepared in the clubroom so far, so I should have applied for something like this sooner.
“But still, what is it, one guy and three girls?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Kaaah! What a nice way to live. What do you think? Aren’t you happy to be surrounded by girls?”
“Hahaha. ……”
“Uh, let’s see.”
“What’s wrong?”
“By the way, what is counseling?”
Again, I had to answer with a wry smile.
———————-
“……Now… Well, I have now properly submitted my application and the Counseling Club is now officially recognized as a club activity.”
After I returned to the counseling club room, I sat down on a cushion and talked with all the club members around the table.
Higashino-san was smiling, Kitagawa-san was saying, “Hmmm,” and Nishida-san was tense as she listened to my story.
“I’m going to be the head of the table, and if there are any problems, I hope we can all work together to solve them. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Please take care of me!”
“Hnn.”
“Y-Yes, ……, I look forward to working with you. ……”
Listening to the three replies, I felt that this group was quite a strong lineup when I looked at them again.
“Nishida-san, you don’t need to be so nervous. If you have any trouble, we can all follow each other.”
When I said that to her, Nishida-san responded with a healthy smile and said, “Y-yeah….. thanks.”
“B-But…Nakahara-kun, even though I’ve asked you to join the club, counseling…what should I do? ”
“What to do?”
“I-I …… was wondering what I should do if I offended someone or made them feel uncomfortable. …… Do you have any ‘don’t ever do this’ kind of thing ……?”
This is a very typical concern of Nishida-san. Certainly, counseling is a delicate business. The slightest language can undermine the trust of the other person.
“Ah, I want to hear that too!”
Higashino-san raised her hand and agreed with Nishida-san.
“I want to hear about Nakahara-kun’s counseling techniques, Sensei!”
“I don’t know what you mean by “teacher” ……. I haven’t studied psychology properly, so I can’t tell you what I know. ……”
“Eeh? But you have the most experience in this field, don’t you, Nakahara kun?”
“Well, that’s for sure.”
“I’d be happy if you could tell me what you think.”
“Well, I see.”
I crossed my arms and thought for a while, but as the girls said, I definitely have the most experience points. In that case, as a head, perhaps I should properly share my knowledge with everyone.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what I think are some of the important points. This is just my personal opinion, so I’d appreciate it if you could just take it as a reference.”
“Yes!”
Hearing Higashino-san’s vigorous reply, I began to talk a little at a time.
“First of all, you need to create a mood in which the consultant can relax. If you make them tense, they won’t be able to talk about what they want to talk about. This may go without saying, but it is a very important point as an introduction.”
As I spoke, Higashino-san and Nishida-san started taking notes in their notebooks.
Then, perhaps in a panic seeing them, even Kitagawa-san asked me, “Should I write down something about this?”
“No, no, no! Well….I think it’s okay to just write down the parts that you think are important.”
“I understand. I don’t know much about counseling either, so I’ll write it down.”
So, eventually, Kitagawa-san started taking notes in her notebook, too.
As my comments were being written down, I felt like I was really finally becoming a teacher. It was not a bad feeling by any means, but …… kind of embarrassing.
“Um, Nakahara-kun.”
Nishida-san stopped writing, looked up, and asked me a question.
“What exactly should I do to relax?”
“There are many ways, but I think the first thing is to have a chat with them. It’s easy to broaden the conversation, especially if you share what you like.”
“Like, do we like the same things, like manga and anime?”
“Yes, yes. At that time, the important thing is not to try to get along with them.”
“Eh? W+What do you mean? Don’t you talk about it in order to get along with them?”
“I mean, isn’t trying to get along, so to speak, a forward attitude? [Let’s talk more! Let’s talk more!]. But that can be depressing or aggressive and scary for some people, so you need to be more passive about it. It would be better to say, [I am not your enemy]. Of course, some people may want you to come at them aggressively, but basically it is better to maintain an appropriate distance.”
“I-I see. ……”
“The main character is the client, not us. How do you get the other person to feel comfortable confiding in their concerns? That’s the most important thing.”
“Umm, the main actor is …… the client …….”
Nishida-san is very diligent about taking notes. She uses highlighter pens and other colorful tools.
(It’s so colorful~. Nishida-san, you seem to have a rather neat personality. This seems to be very useful in counseling.)
I am sure that Nishida-san has the ability to pay attention to others’ feelings. She is anxious, but she has a gentle personality, so counseling may be a good fit for her.
“Oh, that’s right. One more point, while the main actor is the client, you should not digress to your own story when the other person is asking for advice.”
“About yourself?”
Kitagawa-san tilted her head at my words.
“Hmm I think For example, the person you’re consulting with might say, ‘Actually, I was bullied…’, right?At that time, you might say, ‘I know, I know, actually, I was bullied in the past.’ It’s unacceptable to interrupt the client’s conversation by talking about yourself.”
“Ah, yes, there are people who bring their own story to the discussion at times like that.”
“Yes,……, there are indeed people who do that. I wish people would stop doing that.”
Higashino-san and Nishida-san frowned at the same time. Both of them must have memories of people like that.
“First of all, listen to everything the other person has to say. It’s important to make the other person feel comfortable when talking. Well, everyone here doesn’t have the strong will to suddenly start talking about themselves, so I guess it’s okay. .I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have told you anything.”
“No, thanks, Nakahara-kun.”
Higashino-san was very kind in her tone of voice, and she was very concerned about me.
“Nakahara-kun, is there anything else?”
“Um, yes. I say this as a reminder to myself, but you shouldn’t be too sympathetic to the client’s story.”
“Eh? rather not sympathize …… too much?”
Higashino-san rolled his eyes and asked me.
“Why ……? Wouldn’t the consultant be happier if you sympathize ……?”
Nishida-san seemed to be questioning this as well.
“This is not for the other person’s sake, but for your own.”
“For yourself?”
“Yes. When you are dealing with a large number of clients, you have to listen to a lot of heavy stories. Then, you are also hit by the weight of it, and you get sick or have a mental breakdown. In fact, there have been times when I’ve gone home and suddenly found myself in tears or feeling heavy because I was thinking too much about ‘wonder if ◯◯ san, who came to me for advice today, is okay.’”
“……………………”
“If you can’t protect your mental health, you can’t do counseling. First of all, keep yourself. Help yourself. Then you have to care about others. I think what you need is that kind of mental attitude. So, avoid being more sympathetic than necessary, and always keep in mind, ‘I am me, this person is this person, and I am not this person’. ‘I’m not this person, and this person is not me.’”
“……………………”
“I think it’s very important to empathize with the other person. This in itself is very important, but if you empathize too much, you will lose the boundary between yourself and others. So I hope you will all keep this in mind to protect your own hearts and minds.”
“I see,…… that’s the part you have to separate.”
Nishida-san put down her pen with a difficult look on her face.
“Can I …… do it? That kind of separation …….”
“No, I’m sorry. To be honest, if you asked me if I could do this, it’s doubtfull. After all, I feel sorry for someone who reveals their feelings to me, and I want to do something about it.”
“Yeah…”.
“But if you collapse because of it, that’s not a good thing. Both you and the client can be saved. In order to achieve such a state, you need to take care of yourself first.”
“Umm~……! C- can I do it ……?”
Nishida-san held her head in her hands and frowned. Next to her, Kitagawa-san was also frowning.
“I don’t know if I can do it either. It’s difficult.”
“I’m sorry, I suddenly started talking about something so difficult. I’m still practicing that, so I hope we can all get better at counseling little by little. Also… I talked about a lot of things. The most important thing in counseling is honesty.”
Everyone stopped their pens and looked at me.
“Integrity in this context means not lying. No matter how beautiful the words, if there is no heart in them, they are meaningless. It doesn’t matter how ugly the words are or how simple and easy they are to say. Speak words with your heart in them. That is the most important thing.”
“””……………………”””
“You don’t have to use clever counseling techniques, and you don’t have to be able to say intelligent words. You don’t need anything as long as you just say ‘I’m by your side’ from the bottom of your heart.”
When …… I said that, the clubroom went quiet for a while.
Each of them seemed to be deep in thought. They are also people who are suffering and are probably thinking about various things. Such people can be considerate of others.
They would probably make better counselors than I ever could. I sincerely thought so.
(TL/N : No romcom moments this time huh)
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